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A federal class action lawsuit accuses the Florida Department of Corrections of stealing millions of dollars of inmate-purchased digital music and books from prisoners.

The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Florida by the Florida Justice Institute and the Social Justice Law Collective on behalf of lifer William Demler, names state Corrections Secretary Mark Inch as the defendant.

The suit says the Department of Corrections sold digital music and books to Florida prisoners for six years with the promise that the inmates’ ownership of the media was forever. Demler bought more than 300 songs and books since 2012. He was one of the prisoners the suit says spent a total of $11.3 million on digital media from 2011 to 2017.

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MIAMI/TALLAHASSEE – Today, the Florida Justice Institute (FJI) and the Social Justice Law Collective (SJLC) announced the filing of a federal class action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) for confiscating the lawfully purchased digital music and books of thousands of Florida prisoners. After years of selling digital music and books to Florida prisoners – and real...

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Florida Department of Corrections For Unlawfully Confiscating Millions of Dollars of Digital Music and Books

MIAMI/TALLAHASSEE – Today, the Florida Justice Institute (FJI) and the Social Justice Law Collective (SJLC) announced the filing of a federal class action lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) for confiscating the lawfully purchased digital music and books of thousands of Florida prisoners. After years of selling digital music and books to Florida prisoners – and realizing millions of dollars in profits from those sales – the FDOC has now implemented a statewide policy forcing Florida prisoners to surrender their digital media players and all of their lawfully purchased music and books, without just compensation. The Complaint alleges violations of the Takings and Due Process Clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

“In effect, the Florida Department of Corrections has stolen millions of dollars of digital music and books from the incarcerated people in its custody,” said FJI Executive Director Dante Trevisani. “This was done merely to obtain a more profitable contract, at the direct expense of incarcerated people and their families.”

William Demler, the named plaintiff in the lawsuit, has brought this lawsuit on behalf of himself and other victims of the FDOC’s unconstitutional policy. He had purchased over 300 digital songs and books from the FDOC and its prior vendor since 2012. Now, the FDOC has taken his digital media player and all of his digital songs and books from him. The FDOC’s explanation is even more callous – in response to the hundreds of formal grievances filed by Mr. Demler and other affected prisoners, the FDOC developed a form response, admitting that the unlawful confiscation of their property was necessary in order for the FDOC and its new vendor to realize additional profits.

According to the lawsuit, the FDOC induced Mr. Demler and other prisoners to purchase the now-confiscated digital music and books by explicitly promising them that they would own any purchased media files forever. The promises had their intended effect, as from 2011 to 2017, FDOC prisoners purchased nearly 6.7 million digital media files, at a cost of roughly $11.3 million to those prisoners and their families. However, this promise quickly became meaningless when the FDOC had the opportunity to enter into a more profitable contract with a new vendor.

“These men and women relied on the representations made by the FDOC and its vendor that, once purchased, they would own these songs and books for the duration of their incarceration,” said SJLC attorney Josh Glickman. “The FDOC’s confiscation of these individuals’ lawfully purchased property – for no reason other than to turn a profit – is unconscionable.”

The case is Demler v. Inch, Case No. 4:19-CV-0094, and is before Judge Mark Walker in the Northern District of Florida. Click here for a PDF of the Press Release.

The Florida Department of Corrections is facing a potential class action over recently forcing inmates to forfeit millions of dollars worth of mp3 and other multimedia files purchased under a since-axed media player contract.
William Demler, a 74-year-old incarcerated man at South Florida Reception Center is the lead plaintiff in the case, which was filed in the northern U.S. District Court on Tue...

Florida prisoners could form class action to demand refund on confiscated media players and files From the Florida Times-Union

The Florida Department of Corrections is facing a potential class action over recently forcing inmates to forfeit millions of dollars worth of mp3 and other multimedia files purchased under a since-axed media player contract.

William Demler, a 74-year-old incarcerated man at South Florida Reception Center is the lead plaintiff in the case, which was filed in the northern U.S. District Court on Tuesday with the backing of the nonprofit legal firm, the Florida Justice Institute.

In 2012, Demler first bought an MP3 player while incarcerated at Hamilton Correctional Institution in Jasper. Over the next few years, he purchased about 335 songs, spending nearly $700 all told on the player and accessories. He is seeking to form a class with similarly situated inmates.

HOUSTON — The kitchen of the detention center here was bustling as a dozen immigrants boiled beans and grilled hot dogs, preparing lunch for about 900 other detainees. Elsewhere, guards stood sentry and managers took head counts, but the detainees were doing most of the work — mopping bathroom stalls, folding linens, stocking commissary shelves.
As the federal government cracks down on immigra...

Using Jailed Migrants as a Pool of Cheap Labor From the New York Times

HOUSTON — The kitchen of the detention center here was bustling as a dozen immigrants boiled beans and grilled hot dogs, preparing lunch for about 900 other detainees. Elsewhere, guards stood sentry and managers took head counts, but the detainees were doing most of the work — mopping bathroom stalls, folding linens, stocking commissary shelves.

As the federal government cracks down on immigrants in the country illegally and forbids businesses to hire them, it is relying on tens of thousands of those immigrants each year to provide essential labor — usually for $1 a day or less — at the detention centers where they are held when caught by the authorities.

This work program is facing increasing resistance from detainees and criticism from immigrant advocates. In April, a lawsuit accused immigration authorities in Tacoma, Wash., of putting detainees in solitary confinement after they staged a work stoppage and hunger strike. In Houston, guards pressed other immigrants to cover shifts left vacant by detainees who refused to work in the kitchen, according to immigrants interviewed here.

TALLAHASSEE — Florida inmates are accusing state corrections officials of effectively stealing millions of dollars’ worth of digital music and books to benefit a new contractor.
Attorneys with the Social Justice Law Collective and the Florida Justice Institute filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in Tallahassee, alleging a Department of Corrections program is unconstitutional because it doesn’t a...

Inmates sue state in digital music dispute From the Daytona Beach News-Journal

TALLAHASSEE — Florida inmates are accusing state corrections officials of effectively stealing millions of dollars’ worth of digital music and books to benefit a new contractor.

Attorneys with the Social Justice Law Collective and the Florida Justice Institute filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in Tallahassee, alleging a Department of Corrections program is unconstitutional because it doesn’t allow inmates to access more than $11 million worth of music bought for music players the agency has now banned.

The department in 2011 started allowing inmates in some facilities to purchase and download digital content to MP3 and MP4 players made specifically for prisoners, according to the lawsuit. About three years later, the department expanded the program and contracted with a company that had already been running the program, Keefe Commissary Network, LLC, doing business as “Access Corrections,” to take it statewide.

Prisoners could buy digital media players for $99.95 or $119.95, accessories for the players, and songs or files for $1.70 each. Prisoners were also required to purchase blocks of “prepaid media credits,” which required them to buy a minimum of five files or songs for $8.50.

Inmates used the “prepaid credits” at kiosks, where they could transfer their files to a cloud-based library. They could also use the kiosks, located inside the prisons, to transfer files from the cloud to digital players. Inmates had to connect their players to a kiosk every 30 days, for security purposes, or the device would be disabled, and they weren’t allowed to have players or files that weren’t purchased through the program.

The department, according to the lawsuit, “published numerous advertisements,” posted throughout prisons, “touting the qualities of the digital media players” and promising prisoners, “once music is purchased, you’ll always own it!”

A Florida prison inmate is suing after a switch between contractors removed prisoners’ access to millions of dollars’ worth of their own music. As reported by The Florida Times-Union, William Demler filed a class-action suit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) — which he says falsely promised to let inmates buy music permanently through one digital media provider, then cut...

Florida prisons are getting sued for erasing $11 million worth of prisoner music purchase From the Verge

A Florida prison inmate is suing after a switch between contractors removed prisoners’ access to millions of dollars’ worth of their own music. As reported by The Florida Times-Union, William Demler filed a class-action suit against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) — which he says falsely promised to let inmates buy music permanently through one digital media provider, then cut off their access to sign a more lucrative deal with another.

Demler’s complaint involves Florida’s digital music player program, which let inmates buy a specially designed media player for $99 or $119, then buy individual songs or audiobooks for $1.70 apiece. The complaint claims that prisons heavily advertised the program, run by contractor Access Corrections, with promises that inmates could keep songs forever. Between 2011 and 2017, prisoners spent roughly $11.3 million to buy 6.7 million files in total, and Demler himself spent roughly $569 buying music, plus more money for the player itself.

Florida inmate William Demler says that since 2012, he has spent $569.50 on digital music via a proprietary digital music service sponsored by the Florida prison system. Demler listened to his music on a prison-sponsored music player he purchased for $99.95. Demler, who is serving a life sentence, says ads for the prison-sponsored service promised access to his music for his entire prison term.
Bu...

Florida inmate says prison sold him $569 of music, then took it away From Ars Technica

Florida inmate William Demler says that since 2012, he has spent $569.50 on digital music via a proprietary digital music service sponsored by the Florida prison system. Demler listened to his music on a prison-sponsored music player he purchased for $99.95. Demler, who is serving a life sentence, says ads for the prison-sponsored service promised access to his music for his entire prison term.

But last year, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) switched music vendors, and as a result, Demler lost access to his music collection. He was told that he’d need to buy the same songs again using the new system if he wanted to continue listening to them.

So Demler is suing the FDOC, arguing that the prison system broke its own promises and violated the US Constitution by depriving him of his music without compensation. He is seeking class-action status, allowing him to represent every prisoner in the Sunshine State who has lost access to the music.

A federal lawsuit is accusing the Florida Department of Corrections of unlawfully separating Florida inmates from their rightful property, namely, digital media they’d purchased in prison.
The class action filed in the Northern District of Florida on Tuesday charges the FDOC and its newly appointed secretary, Mark Inch, with violating Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment assurances of compensation and...

Miami Attorney Reps Florida Prisoners in Class Action Over Impounded Music From the Daily Business Review

A federal lawsuit is accusing the Florida Department of Corrections of unlawfully separating Florida inmates from their rightful property, namely, digital media they’d purchased in prison.

The class action filed in the Northern District of Florida on Tuesday charges the FDOC and its newly appointed secretary, Mark Inch, with violating Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment assurances of compensation and due process by confiscating music and books that Florida prisoners had bought.

FDOC Press Secretary Patrick Manderfield said “the department has not been served this lawsuit,” but would “thoroughly review it upon receipt.”

Dante Trevisani, the executive director of Miami public interest law firm the Florida Justice Institute, said the new policy is a result of the FDOC’s partnership with a new vendor, Miramar-based JPay, for the state prison system’s digital music player program.

“If the music could transfer, it would negate the new vendor’s ability to make money. This was the explicit reason it was done,” Trevisani said.

The complaint claims advertisements touting the digital media players promised inmates: “Once music is purchased, you’ll always own it!” Now, prisoners are being compelled to hand in their old devices in exchange for new Jpay-branded ones without any of the media they’d purchased. What’s more, the suit claims the FDOC has declined to offer compensation for the seizure of materials prisoners had thought they owned outright. Now, if they want access to the music or books they’d previously enjoyed, they’ll have to buy them a second time.

A federal class action lawsuit accuses the Florida Department of Corrections of stealing millions of dollars of inmate-purchased digital music and books from prisoners.
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Florida by the Florida Justice Institute and the Social Justice Law Collective on behalf of lifer William Demler, names state Corrections Secretary Mark Inch as the defendant.
The suit...

A federal class action lawsuit accuses the Florida Department of Corrections of stealing millions of dollars of inmate-purchased digital music and books from prisoners.

The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Florida by the Florida Justice Institute and the Social Justice Law Collective on behalf of lifer William Demler, names state Corrections Secretary Mark Inch as the defendant.

The suit says the Department of Corrections sold digital music and books to Florida prisoners for six years with the promise that the inmates’ ownership of the media was forever. Demler bought more than 300 songs and books since 2012. He was one of the prisoners the suit says spent a total of $11.3 million on digital media from 2011 to 2017.

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